Clients

The Challenge

MooBella LLC has developed a revolutionary machine that marries innovative, patented technology with one of America's favorite treats to produce a wide variety of great tasting ice cream made fresh to order—in the space of a vending-style machine. Geared initially to food service operators, the machines are designed for use in cafeterias in college and universities and hospital settings with attendant cashiers. The company currently has two units in the field for beta test. It needs funds to complete its testing and to begin mass production. The company posed a compelling challenge of needing funding without creating a consumer demand that it could not fulfill.

Our Approach

Having tasted the ice cream—which is akin to fresh bread coming out of the oven—Tier One jumped at the chance to help bring the company out from under the radar. We determined that the best way to generate coverage was to focus on the revolutionary technology that can change how ice cream is made, shipped and stored.

Utilizing our technology background, we believed the best way to highlight the technology was to demonstrate the machine at the premiere technology showplace venue: The DEMO Conference. DEMO has launched technologies such as the Palm Pilot and TiVo. Not only do top tier national media attend the show, but the venture community is highly visible there as well. However, no foodservice company had ever been selected as a DEMOnstrator.

Never one to take no for an answer, Tier One aggressively pitched Chris Shipley, the head of DEMO—until she agreed to include the company at DEMO 2006.

The Results

We determined that targeting The Wall Street Journal—first was our best shot at getting attention from other national media attending the show. We convinced reporter Don Clark that MooBella could be the hit of the show and secured coverage from him the day prior to the show opening. That led the way to meetings--and the beginning of relationships—with cream of the media, including Stephen Manes from Forbes, Peter Lewis from Fortune, Ed Baig from USA Today, Arik Hesseldahl from BusinessWeek, Kevin Maney from USA Today, to name a few.

Since DEMO in February, MooBella has been covered on six television stations, in major market dailies including The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and San Jose Mercury News, by wire services AP and Reuters, and has coverage pending on The Discovery Channel. Even more important, the company has received literally hundreds of calls from interested investors and business partners, and is currently working to determine which opportunities are optimal for the company.

"Without Tier One's unrelenting pursuit of the DEMO launch opportunity, no one would know who we are. Tier One has secured coverage in all the major business publications and has made our phone continually ring with potential funding sources. They couldn't have done a better job for us," Bob Brooks, VP Business Development, MooBella.